Daily industrial news and top headlines for plant and maintenance managers

NEW YORK (AP) — An unexpected increase in the U.S. unemployment rate and slower than expected job growth has darkened the mood ahead of Friday's opening on Wall Street.
The unemployment rate climbed to a seven month high in November as employers added only 39,000 jobs. Economists had expected that 145,000 were added last month.

HOWARD, Wis. (AP) — One worker was killed and another injured when they fell from scaffolding at a Green Bay area paper company Thursday.
Officials say the two men were employed by Faith Technologies, a contractor at Hattiesburg Paper Co. in Howard.
The Brown County medical examiner's office identifies the worker who died as 41-year-old Michael Leroy of Appleton.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rearview cameras could become more common in future cars and trucks under new rules the government was proposing Friday to address concerns about drivers unintentionally backing over children.
The Transportation Department was offering new requirements to improve rear visibility in cars by the 2014 model year.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A pilot program to fix homes that were built with tainted drywall made by a major Chinese manufacturer is progressing well and will likely expand, a federal judge said Thursday.
U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon said a test program to repair up to 300 homes in Florida, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi made with drywall made by Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co.

The new Precision Safety Gun from EXAIR (Cincinnati, OH) is lightweight and comfortable to operate during periods of extended use, according to the company. The small diameter nozzle and extension fit into tight spaces while packing the punch of a strong blowing force, and the sleek profile works with small or large hands.

Brady (Milwaukee, WI) has introduced a line of three new sustainable materials for safety and traffic signage. The Sustainable Signs can help companies invest in ”green“ programs, according to Brady, by using materials that are as durable as other products. The B-586 Paper Signs are made of 10 percent post-consumer waste and are 100 percent recyclable.

Kimberly-Clark Professional (Roswell, GA) has added two new products to its Jackson Safety brand hearing protection line: the H10 and H20 metal detectable, disposable, and reusable earplugs. Embedded metal ensure that the earplugs or other forms of PPE can be detected via scanning in food and pharmaceutical processing.

MISUMI USA, Inc. (Schaumburg, IL) has recently added two new styles to its family of miniature conveyors. The compact motorized systems are designed to perform precise, automated short-run conveying in machine building, as well as in testing and inspection applications. The new models include:
The CVSMA — Flat Belt Single Track Mini Conveyor (70mm) — with a built-in motor drive between frames.

Corporate executives generally recognize that it’s time to call in a consultant when they identify some point of pain and realize that fixing it will require help from outside the organization. As the consultant begins problem solving, the predicament is oftentimes recognized to be a symptom of one or a host of other issues.

David Stockman, President Ronald Reagan's Budget Director, says the U.S. economy is not in a state of recovery. Massive debt creation in the public and household sectors has resulted in the United States 'living beyond (its) means," says Stockman. As a result, Stockman states, the United States has not fully recovered from the Great Recession.

Ever wonder how flight data recorders manage to survive plane crashes? For decades, engineers used Inconel, a super-tough alloy, in order to etch data without the fear of it being erased later by fire or crash damage.
And while modern recorders have gone digital, like most everything else, it doesn't mean we can't appreciate the innovations that brought us to where we are now.

We've all heard a lot about Chevrolet's new 2011 Volt. It was named Motortrend's Car of the Year , and potential buyers are lining up for their chance to drive one home. What we haven't seen, on the other hand, is how the Volts are made. This video tries to solve that problem.
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Jem Stansfield, of the BBC show "Bang Goes The Theory," visits a solar furnace research facility in southern France to see the enormous potential of sunlight. This 2 square-meter mirror is capable of creating temperatures of 3,500°C, which is too hot for any known material to handle.

SUVA, Fiji (AP) — Fiji Water reopened its operations in the South Pacific nation of Fiji on Wednesday — just two days after closing its bottling plant and laying off 400 workers in a row over a major government tax increase.
The U.S.-owned company said after meeting with Fiji's leaders it has agreed to "comply" with the hefty tax hike imposed on it by Fiji's military-led regime.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The work force was more productive in the summer than originally thought, reflecting the fact that the economy produced more goods and services than first estimated.
Despite the revision, the efficiency of U.S. workers is increasing at a much slower pace than last year and economists say that could signal more hiring in the near future.

ANDERSON, Ind. (AP) — An Indianapolis electronics company says it will buy a former General Motors plant in Anderson as part of an expansion that will create up to 100 jobs by 2013.
Northwind Electronics LLC makes electrical systems for work vehicles. CEO Phillip Berry says the company currently employs 10 people in Indianapolis and had been looking for possible locations for expansion.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The manufacturing sector likely grew in November for the 16th straight month, though at a slightly slower pace than the previous month.
Still, the continued expansion of manufacturing is a good sign for the economy. The factory sector led the nation out of recession late last year, but many economists have feared that its growth would end when companies finish replenishing their stockpiles of goods.

TOKYO (AP) — Toyota is suing the company handling bankrupt General Motors' assets, demanding $73 million in damages from the shuttering of a joint-venture California plant.
Toyota Motor Corp. spokesman Paul Nolasco said Tuesday the lawsuit was filed Nov. 24 for research and development costs that weren't recouped because of the shuttering of New United Motor Manufacturing Inc.